Lake Victoria spans about 59,947 square kilometers across Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, making it Africa's largest lake and the world's largest tropical lake, with an average depth of 40 meters feeding the Nile River through its outlet at Jinja, Uganda. The lake was once home to more than 500 endemic haplochromine cichlid species that evolved over roughly 15,000 years, one of the fastest documented cases of vertebrate diversification. At least 200 of those species, around 40 percent, have gone extinct since the mid twentieth century, driven chiefly by the introduction of Nile perch along with eutrophication and habitat loss, a collapse often described as the most dramatic case of human caused extinction within a single ecosystem.
Facts
Classification
Biogeographic Realm Area (sq km) Connections
Demonstrates
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Hosts
Source Wikidata: Hippopotamus
Additional Source Lake Victoria (Wikipedia)Article text
Source Eurasian teal (Wikipedia)
Source Wikidata: Hippopotamus
Additional Source Lake Victoria (Wikipedia)Article text
Source Wikidata: Hippopotamus
Additional Source Lake Victoria (Wikipedia)Article text
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source Spotted-necked otter
Source Pontederia crassipes - Wikipedia
In Biome
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Lake Victoria
WikipediaIntroductionQuote, Introduction
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes.
2. Lake Victoria (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section, first sentence, surface area and rank among lakes
With a surface area of approximately 59,947 km2 (23,146 sq mi), Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America.
Hosts: Jumping Spider, Article text
Evarcha culicivora is a species of jumping spider (family Salticidae) found only around Lake Victoria in Kenya and Uganda.
Hosts: Hippopotamus, Article text
Among these are the hippopotamus, African clawless otter, spotted-necked otter, marsh mongoose, sitatunga, bohor reedbuck, defassa waterbuck, cane rats, and giant otter shrew.
Hosts: African Clawless Otter, Article text
Among these are the hippopotamus, African clawless otter, spotted-necked otter, marsh mongoose, sitatunga, bohor reedbuck, defassa waterbuck, cane rats, and giant otter shrew.
View the Source World Wildlife Fund
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Pontederia crassipes - Wikipedia
Hosts: Water Hyacinth, Invasive speciesQuote, Hosts: Water Hyacinth, Invasive species
The common water hyacinth has become an invasive plant species on Lake Victoria in Africa after it was introduced into the area in the 1980s.
Spotted-necked otter
Hosts: Spotted-necked Otter, Distribution and habitatQuote, Hosts: Spotted-necked Otter, Distribution and habitat
It is common in Lake Victoria and across Zambia, but is absent in the Zambezi below Victoria Falls, Zambia.
Eurasian teal (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Eurasian teal, Distribution and habitatQuote, Hosts: Eurasian teal, Distribution and habitat
More isolated wintering grounds are Lake Victoria, the Senegal River estuary, the swamps of the upper Congo River, the inland and sea deltas of the Niger River, and the central Indus River valley.
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